Frigid temps cause WSU to cancel functions

Winter made a comeback Sunday, Jan. 5, with the current temperature at -6 degrees and the wind chill pulling it down to -31 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wright State closed its doors on Monday due to the cold and has already announced closure for Tuesday as well.

According to the National Weather Service, temperatures will not improve until Wednesday, Jan. 8 with tonight’s expected low to be -10 degrees and the wind chill to reach-35 and Tuesday’s forecast indicating a temperature of 8 degrees and a wind chill of -32.

Temperatures this low bring dangers of ruined car batteries, hypothermia and frostbite. ABC News said in article that temperatures around 15 to 30 below zero can frostbite within minutes.

However, some students aren’t surprised by the weather and don’t seem too concerned about it.

Brittany Miracle, Sophomore Fine Arts Major said that she wasn’t surprised because she’s learned to expect anything from Ohio’s weather.

“It’s Ohio,” said Miracle. “The weather is constantly changing and is never the same from year to year. I’ve learned not to be shocked, just annoyed.”

Senior Criminal Justice Major Daniel Hatfield said that he was impressed with the temperatures, but wasn’t concerned about safety.

“I heard that this was the coldest it’s been in 20 years,” said Hatfield. “That’s a pretty big deal, but it doesn’t seem all that bad, as far as the roads go.”

Wright State wasn’t the only university within the Dayton area that decided to close. University of Dayton also shut its doors due to the weather.

Matthew DeVilbiss, Sophomore Mathematics Major at UD mentioned that there are a number of students that continue to stay in UD dorms over the break, but remains unconcerned about their safety.

“I couldn’t imagine [the conditions] to be that unsafe,” said DeVilbiss. “I wouldn’t be too worried about them, unless they were particularly stupid.”

All of the students believe that their universities had valid reasons to close their doors for this storm. Miracle stated that it was “too cold for people to go outside.”

However, both Hatfield and DeVilbiss thought that the media’s response to the weather was more of an over the top.

“I think the media overreacted,” said DeVilbiss. “I think instead of covering the doom and destruction, it would have been more accurate to talk about inconvenience and discomfort.”